Jacking attachment



-2 `sheets-sheet 1 Z Car/s Wye/'amin INVENTOR ow g ATTORN Oct. 10, 1939. c. w. JEREMIAH JACKING ATTACHMENT Filed March 7, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 REAR v/sw Chah/es )1f Q/erem /a INVENTOR MW AT R Y Psa-med occ 1o, 1939 2,175,776

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JACKING ATTACHMENT Charles W. Jeremiah. Cincinnati, Ohio Application March 7, 1938, Serial No. 194,278

4 Claims. (Cl. 28o-15|) This invention relates to an attachment for gear; but with the use of such special jacks in vehicles having spring mounted wheels, to facilithe manner intended, considerable added time tate and expedite jacking up the vehicle and liitand effort is necessary for lifting a wheel clear ing the wheels clear oi' the roadway, when necesof the roadway, due to the ,fact that the wheel sary. cannot be elevated until the vehicle springs have An object of the invention is to provide a .iackbeen first relieved of strain. lnngther words, ing attachment characterized by its extreme simwhen the chassis is lifted up, the springs bow plicity and the absence of numerous moving downwardly due to the hanging weight of the parts, to the end that the cost of manufacture wheels and axles supported thereon. Accordand maintenance of the device is reduced to a lniily, a great deal i lifting is required, over and practical minimum. above the range of movement that would actually Another object of the invention is to provide be necessary for elevating the wheels from the device of the kind referred to above, in such manroadwayreadily be operated by persons not familiar with It is appreciated that various solutions to the mechanical intricacies, and which will require no Problem of easily lacking up the wheels have servicing in order to maintain it in an operable been proposed but the fact that none of them condition. apparently has been generally accepted in the A further object is to construct a, simplified industry gives rise to the question of their pracdevice of the kind refered to above, in such man.. ticability. Such devices should be Constructed ner as to avoid the probability of annoyance due so as to require no servicing, and they should be to vibration and rattling of any parts of the de- So simple that no diillculty may be encountered vice, as Well as the inconvenience of having movin their use by persons unskilled in the mechaning parts to gum up and thereby disable the ical arts, for all types of Persons OWn and opermechanism at a time when it is needed moet. ate automotive vehicles. Moreover, the design of These and other objects are attained by the any device to facilitate the lifting operation must means described herein and disclosed in the acbe Such aS to Promote Safety, and a Structure companying drawings, in which; that may become loose and noisy would neces- Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view ssrily be considered unsatisfactory from a pracof a vehicle chassis, showing the jacking attachtical standpoint- The use of Springs and a multiment of the invention in the normal or inoper- Dlicity of parts in a .lacking attachment iS conative position. dllcive to vibration and noise, and should there- Fig, 2 is a view similar to Fig, 1, showing the fore be avoided. With these observations forejacking attachment in the operative position. most in mind, the description Proceeds, to disclose Fig, 3 is a. plan view of the Fig, 2 structure, as an improved structure free of the various obviewed from above, Jectionable features noted above.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views showing alter- With reference to the accompanying drawings native methods of attaching the device of the the characters A,B and C indicate. respectively, invention to a vehicle frame the frame, the spring, and the axle of an auto- Fig. 7 is a fragmental plan view of a vehicle motive vehicle. The spring is attached to the frame, showing the relationship of parts of the frame and to the aXlc in the customary manner, device, the vehicle axle being omitted from the wherefore an explanation of details in that regard illustration. I should be unnecessary.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line In accordance With the invention; a Dall' of 3 3 of F1g 7, and showing the location of the hooks or restraining elements is provided and axle relative to the attachment herein disclosed. arranged to be swung from the normal inoper- As is commonly known, automotive vehicles of ative position of Fis- 1 to the operative position recent design are built in such a manner that it is of Fig- 2. S0 aS to engage beneath the axle housdiiiicult and inconvenient to place a jack or lifting. as indicated in Fig- 2. A transverse shaft ing device at locations of advantage for perform.. 0r rod 2, which 1S suitably piVOted fOr rotational ance of the lifting operation. Special Jacks havmovement upon the frame A. furnishes a Support ing a wide lifting range have been provided, to for the pair of hooks or restraining'elelnent l, engage the bumpers or other accessible parts of and any suitable means, such as set-screws Ii, the vehicle and thereby render unnecessary the may be employed for ilxing the parts for unitary placing of the jack beneath the axles or other movement. relatively inaccessible portions of the running A flexible cord or cable 3 passing over a pair of pulleys indicated at I, and secured to one of the hooks or restraining elements as at i, serves to elevate the hooks or restraining elements and maintain them in the inoperative position of Fig. 1. The free end of the cord or cable may be provided with a ring or equivalent anchoring device il adapted to cooperate with a series of pegs or pins 1. To hold the element l in the inoperative position, the flexible cord or cable may be entwined about the pegs or pins 1, after which the ring Il may be disposed about one of the pegs or pins to securely fasten the free end of the cord or cable. At this point in the description it should be noted that the off-set portion 2| of the shaft 2, being disposed substantially at right angles to the hooks I, aids the gravitation of the l'iiooks toward the operative position of Fig. 2 when the cord or cable is released. The off-set portion 2|, in the inoperative position of Fig. 1, serves also to permit unlimited movement of the rear axle dierential housing in an upward direction when the vehicle is in service. In Figs. l, 2, 6, "l, and 8, the characters indicate suitable bearings for the ends of the shaft 2, which bearings are by preference bolted or otherwise fixed to the frame of the vehicle, or to the body thereof. In the modification illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5, the conventional bearings are replaced by brackets, such as 9 and I0, designed and constructed to meet the requirements of the chassis of the vehicle. In each drawing view, the character l indicates a collar which is fixed to the shaft or rod 2 so as to preclude end-wise movement of the shaft. Bet-screws I2 or other suitable means may be employed for fixing the collars in position.

'I'he reference character I4 indicates the trunk or rear compartment of the vehicle, wherein the group of pegs or pins preferably is located. The group of pegs or pins may be mounted upon the 'floor I! of the vehicle body. A nub or abutment Il may be applied to the free end of each hook or restraining member l, to avoid possible accidental displacement of the axle housing from its position upon the hooks. The curved plate Il provides a recess in the vehicle floor, to permit upward movement of the axle differential I8 under the action of the springs, as is customary.

Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 8 show several different ways to support the transverse shaft or rod 2. In Fig. 4, the support 8 is in the form of an angle bracket, whereas in Fig. 5 it is of flat plate design. In Fig. 6, the bearing 5 is secured within the limits of the frame channel, whereas in Fig. 8 the bearing is mounted upon the lower leg of the channel, exteri'orly thereof.

In conclusion, it should be noted that there is but one moving part in the entire structure that could possibly vibrate or rattle, this being the composite unit I-i-B-G, but looseness or rattling cannot possibly ocur if the flexible cable be drawn taut and securely fastened to the pegs. Devic of this general character which employ pivoted latches, dogs, springs and links cannot be kept tightened after several thousand miles of travel, due to the abrasion of relatively movable parts contacting each other in the presence of dust and grit from the road, which rapidly wears the connections to looseness. Moreover, it will be readily evident that no small parts are employed which might f ail to move and function in the presence of heavy road oil and mud that might collect thereon over a period of time. t

It is to be `understood that various modifications and changes in the structure of the device may be made. within the scope of the appended claims,

without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: Y

1. In a jacking attachment for vehicles having s, frame and a body, an axle housing, and a spring mounted upon the frame to resiliently support the axle housing, the combination of a shaft spanning the vehicle frame and having an integral off-set middle portion, means on the frame supporting the shaft for rocking movement directly above the axle housing and transversely of the frame, a pair of axle housing restraining hooks each nxed to the shaft in spaced parallelism and substantially at right angles to the off-set portion of the shaft, so that the weight of the off-set portion of the shaft will influence the rocking movement of the shaft when the shaft rotates to position for disposing the hooks beneath the axle housing, and means for rotating the shaft and its associated hooks to a normally inoperative position at which the hooks are displaced from the housing holding position, said means comprising a pulley stationarily supported relative to the vehicle body and in alignment with the restraining hooks, a flexible cable passing over the pulley and having opposite ends, one of which ends is fixed to a restraininghook, and means within the body to anchor the opposite end of the cable when the cable is drawn taut to force one of the hooks against and in binding relationship with said pulley, in an elevated inoperative position remote from the axle housing.

2. In a device of the class described for attachment to a vehicle having a frame and a body, an axle housing, and a spring mounted upon the frame to resiliently support the axle housing, said device comprising in combination a shaft and means on the frame supporting the shaft for rocking movement transversely of the frame and above the axle housing, a pair of restraining elements each having an end fixed to the rocking shaft and an opposite end developed into a hook vformation to hook under the axle housing upon rocking of the shaft in one direction of rotation, a flexible cable having one end secured to a restraining element near its hooked end, a pulley in the line of travel of the restraining element and supporting the cable in position to lift the hooked end of the restraining element from hooking relationship with the axle housing, and to a position of contact against the pulley to prevent rattle when the hooked end is lifted, and a series of pegs fixed relative to the vehicle body and upon which the opposite end of the flexible cable is to be anchored while holding the restraining elements in binding contact against the pulley, said pegs being at different distances from said pulley to compensate for wear and stretch of the cable in anchoring same.

3. In a jacking attachment for vehicles having a frame and a body, an axle housing, and a spring mounted upon the frame to resiliently support the axle housing, the combination of a shaft spanning the vehicle frame and having an integral off-set middle portion, means on the frame supporting the shaft for rocking movement directly above the axle housing and transversely of the frame, a pair of axle housing restraining hooks fixed to the shaft in spaced parallelism and substantially at right angles to the olif-set portion of the shaft, so that the weight of the off-set portion of the shaft will influence the rocking movement of the shaft when the shaft rotates to position for disposing the hooks beneath the axle housing, and means for rotating the shaft and its associated hooks to a normally inoperative position at which the hooks are displaced from the housing holding position and the off-set portion of the rock shaft extends upwardly in a substantially vertical plane above the axle housing.

4. In a jacking attachment for vehicles having a frame and a. body, an axle housing, and a spring mounted upon the frame to resiliently support the axle housing, the combination of a shaft spanning the vehicle frame and having an integral off-set middle portion, means on the frame supporting the shaft for rocking movement directly above the axle housing and transversely of the frame, a pair of axle housing restraining hooks xed to the shaft in spaced parallelism and substantially at right angles to the olf-set portion of the shaft, so that the weight of the off-set portion of the shaft will influence the rocking movement of the shaft when the shaft rotates to housing, and means for rotating the shaft and its associated hooks to a normally inoperative position at which the hooks are displaced from the housing holding-position and the off-set portion of the rock shaft extends upwardly in a substantially vertical plane above the axle housing, said means comprising a flexible cable having one end secured to a restraining element near its hooked end, a pulley in the line of travel of the restraining element and supporting the cable in position to lift the hooked end of the restraining element from hooking relationship with the axle housing, and to a position of contact against the pulley -to prevent rattle when the hooked end is lifted, and a series of pegs fixed relative to the vehicle body and upon which the opposite end of the flexible cable is to be anchored while holding the restraining elements in binding contact against the pulley, said pegs being at diiferent distances from said pulley to compensate for wear and stretch of the cable in anchoring same.

CHARLES W. JEREMIAH. 

